NEWSLINE North Primary School and Nursery

A Town Centre School with a Strong Community Ethos

March 2017

Issue 5

NSA SPRING FAIR FRIDAY 24TH MARCH - DOORS OPEN 3.45PM

CREAM TEAS - treat your mum or gran

CRAFT STALLS - PERFECT MOTHERING SUNDAY GIFT IDEAS

CRAFT ACITIVITIES

On Thursday 16th March, years 3 and 4 set off on their

coaches to visit Layer Marney Tower for a Stone Age

themed day of hands on activities. They conducted an

archaeological dig, discovering shells used for eating

and drinking, bones used as weapons and jewellery,

rock hammers for flint knapping and clay pottery used

for cooking. In the barn, the children made their own

clay pots to gather berries and seeds in, and had a go at

using fire sticks to start a blaze (sadly no success!).

They also had a go at steering a coracle and said hello

to Millie the pregnant goat! In the long gallery the

children experienced Stone Age school using

catapults, fishing rods and spears. They also got a

chance to handle real flint arrow heads, mammoth

teeth and very heavy mammoth tusks. A really great

day was had by all. Thank you Layer Marney for

laying on such an exciting day of practical activities.

Mr Johns reporting. Pictured: Casper in a Coracle, Cormac trying to start a

fire and the catapult practice at Stone Age School!

Stone Age Brought to Life

Layer Marney Tower provided the setting for an even more ancient

history lesson than that of the magnificent building. Year five and

six pupils experienced the Stone Age and were asked to imagine

what it might have been like to live in Britain ten thousand years

ago. They thought about the very first tools that humans might have

used and saw how these developed over time, looking at hand axes,

microliths and other sharp pieces of flint. They even held the real

fossil remains of a mammoth.

Making fire was a major technological advancement for Stone Age

people and we tested out the different methods of rubbing wood

together, fortunately with little success. If ancient people could

transport water they would reduce the risk of being attacked at water

holes or streams so we made our own clay pots for this purpose.

After hunting for or dinner with a variety of fun skills activities we

created Stone Age images of the animals that these people might

have come across. This was a great way to imagine what it would

have been like with very limited resources and has helped the

children to understand how human intelligence developed over

thousands of years. Mr Armitage reporting

The Big Bang March 15th was a memorable day for the Year 6

quartet of Dylan, Polly, Rhiain and Seb and their

parents. They had taken their robot to the NEC to

compete in the national finals of the VEX Robot

Challenge. They kept their focus on a gruelling day,

competing against mainly secondary schools from

around the country.

Chris Carver, the Education Officer for the organiser

RAPID was very impressed. He emailed, “I just

wanted to say a massive well done to your team for

how they performed last week. The competition was

extremely tough and to be ranked 8th in Skills was

an absolutely massive achievement.”

The team had been prepared by Mrs. Walker and Mr.

Allen. Mrs. Walker said, “We had a fantastic time. I

was so proud of the children, they amazed me with

their calmness throughout the day. ...I, on the

other hand, was a bag of nerves for them every time

they stepped up to compete!” Let’s hope this event

becomes a fixture in the school calendar. The

quartet’s task is to now train up the next group of

robot designers and programmers.

DATES FOR TERM

Friday 24th March NSA Spring Fair 3.45pm

Friday 31st March Last day of Spring Term - EASTER PARADE

Tuesday 18th April First day of Summer Term

Friday 26th May Last day of half term

Tuesday 6th June Return to school

Friday 21st July End of school year

Monday 4th September Year 6 go to Weymouth

Wednesday 6th September Autumn Term begins

Dinner money week for last week of term A reminder that all dinner monies for children in Key Stage

2 need to be paid on Monday mornings (or the first day

your child is in school, if they are absent on the Monday).

During the last week of term all dinners will need to be

booked and paid for on Monday 27th March, to allow

processing for the end of the financial year. Please ensure

your child’s dinner money is handed in to their class

teacher, in a sealed envelope clearly stating their name,

class and which days your child will be having a school

dinner. Thank you